Saltire graduate gets job – and £1m investment

Published on Wednesday 23 December 2009 20:00

ONE of the first graduates from Scottish Enterprise's Saltire Foundation programme has secured overseas investment for Scotland – and landed himself a new job in the process.

Jim Duffy was one of 14 entrepreneurs to sign up for the first year of the fellowship scheme, which is designed to train the next generation of business leaders.

After spells studying in Scotland and at Babson College in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the scheme, Duffy undertook a work placement with Canadian energy giant Shawcor in Houston, Texas.

He convinced the group's Shaw Pipeline Service subsidiary to site its new European headquarters in Glasgow, and Duffy will lead the 1 million operation at Hillington Park Innovation Centre.

Shaw Pipeline Service, which was set up in 1991 to develop technology for inspecting pipelines in the oil and gas sector, will use the European centre to adapt its engineering for use in other industries.

Duffy said: "Scotland was chosen due to its terrific talent pool within engineering combined with innovative technologies that will be necessary in the energy sector over the next 20 years.

"Shaw Pipeline Services views Scotland as an environment that supports and nurtures innovation within companies and that – coupled with the support from Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International – meant that Scotland was a forerunner in securing the company's new European business development facility."

Duffy, a former police sergeant, ran a number of businesses in Glasgow before signing up to the Saltire Foundation's scholarship programme.

The charitable foundation was set up last year by Scottish Enterprise, GlobalScot and Scotland's International Advisory Board, and aims to train 200 fellows and 700 undergraduates over the next five to ten years.

The first 14 participants graduated from its fellowship scheme at the start of the month, having been given "the skills and entrepreneurial drive to transform Scottish companies into global businesses of scale".

Each fellow attended a 16-week placement at Babson, one of the world's leading business schools, before undertaking placements at big companies overseas and small high-growth ventures in Scotland.

Irene Johnstone, director of international networks at Scottish Enterprise, said: "To have secured new business investment to Scotland as result of our first Saltire Fellowship programme is a tremendous achievement. We are delighted with the success."